Charles Tatham

The son of a Norfolk vicar, Charles Tatham learned his real tennis (jeu de paume) at Hampton Court and played in the Amateur Championship and MCC prize regularly but was never quite good enough to become a champion. He represented Great Britain in the jeu de paume competition at the 1908 Olympics but was eliminated in the opening match of the competition, losing three sets to nil to fellow Briton Evan Noel.

Charles was also a good hockey player, golfer and lawn tennis player. He was educated at Marlborough and then Trinity College, Cambridge where he obtained his BA in 1884 and MA in 1890. He qualified as a solicitor and his first partnership was in Ladbury, Tatham and Burgiss. His brother William Meaburn Tatham was an Oxford Blue at rugby union 1881-83 and played seven times for England between 1882 and 1884 and was also a good tennis player and competed at Wimbledon where, in 1882 he lost to Ernie Renshaw, the 1888 Wimbledon Champion. Charles continued playing real tennis beyond the age of 60 and the year before his death he competed in the Amateur Championship at Queen’s Club.